Mill Valley Oral History Program A collaboration between the Mill Valley Historical Society and the Mill Valley Public Library BILL CHAMPLIN An Oral History Interview Conducted by Debra Schwartz in 2015 © 2015 by the Mill Valley Public Library TITLE: Oral History of Bill Champlin INTERVIEWER: Debra Schwartz DESCRIPTION: Transcript, 29 pages INTERVIEW DATE: June 11th, 2015 In this oral history, musician and raconteur Bill Champlin vividly recounts a life devoted to music, one fundamentally shaped by his experience growing up in Mill Valley. Born across the bay in Oakland in 1947, Bill moved with his mother and two sisters to Mill Valley when he was 12 years old. Rock n’ roll and R&B were sweeping through Marin in the 1960s, and Bill describes his total immersion in the local music scene, even while still a student at Tam High, and in the broader context of the Vietnam War and the racial tensions of the time. Bill recalls many of the great musicians he has known and played with over the years; the development of his major band, the Sons of Champlin, which he started in the late 1960s; and his life as a songwriter in Los Angeles in the 1970s, a period of great creativity during which he received two Grammys. Throughout the oral history Bill evokes the adventure and camaraderie of the artistic life and the nourishment it received from the cultural synergy he encountered as a teenager in Marin County. © All materials copyright Mill Valley Library. Transcript made available for research purposes only. All rights are reserved to the Mill Valley Library. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the: Lucretia Little History Room Mill Valley Public Library 375 Throckmorton Avenue Mill Valley, CA 94941 ii Oral History of Bill Champlin Index “A Circle Filled with Love” Graydon, Jay…p.22 (album)…p.23 Greenwood, Bob…p.15-16 “After the Love Has Gone”…p.22, 23 Goddard, John…p.7 Albachten, Bob (Ramrods)…p.5 Graham, Bill (“Skippy”)…p.18 Allair, John (Kustom Keys)…p.8 Grammys…p.28 Arnsmeyer, Ron…p.6 Haggerty, Terry…p.20 Barry, Len (The Dovells)…p.9 Hale, Scott (Ramrods)…p.5 Beaumont, Johnny…p.21 Hecksher, Ernie…p.15 Benson, George…p.22 Hertz, Alan (Sons of Champlin)…p.21 Booth, Ed (Falcons)…p.6 Huey and the News…p.12 Brad (Bill’s uncle)…p.3 Irving, Don…p.14 Bradford, William (first governor of “Is It You?”…p.23 Massachusetts; Bill’s ancestor and John, Elton…p.22 namesake)…p.2 Kelley, Charlie…p.19-20 Brown’s Hall…p.8 King, B.B….p.27-28 Brymer, Bruce (Royal Keys)…p.6 Kustom Keys…p.5 Cain, Tim…p.13, 20 Lauren, Donna (The Dovells)…p.9 Champlin, Tamara (wife)…p.25, 28 Lewis, Huey (Huey and the News)…p.8 Champlin, Will (son)…p.25, 27 Lind, Pete (Kustom Keys)…p.8 Cheatham, Betty Mee (mother)…p.5, 22 Los Angeles…p.14, 22 Cheatham, Jack (stepfather)…p.5 Lukather, Steve (Toto)…p.22 Chicago…p.26 Maguire Junior High School…p.4 Chitilin Circuit…p.12 Milly award…p.1, 23 Chord Lords…p.5 “Minus Seeds and Stems”…p.24 Cipollina, John (Swingin’ Moitoza, Rob (Chord Lords)…p.5 Deacons)…p.6 Moitoza Shuffle…p.28, 29 Coasters, The…p.9 Palmer, Geoff…p.18 Deal, Charlie…p.7 Piano lessons…p.5 Dirty Loops…p.26 Porcaro, Jeff…p.22 Dovells, The…p.9 Preston, James (Sons of Duke, George.,.p.9 Champlin)…p.21 Earth, Wind & Fire…p.22 Oakland (Bill’s birthplace, 1947)…p.3 Ekberg, Anita…p.13 Opposite Six, The…p.8 Enchanted Knolls…p.3 Ramrods, The…p.5 Falcons, The…p.6 Regalia, Steve (Swingin’ Deacons)…p.6 Fat Tire Flyer (Kelly)…p.19 Rogers, Dick…p.14 Ferguson, Dean (Chord Lords)…p.5 Royal Keys, The…p.6 Foster, David…p.22, 23, 26 Scaggs, Boz…p.22 Fourman, Adam (Swingin’ Searles, Pete…p.7 Deacons)…p.6 Sonoma property purchased from Freedom Highway…p.6 General Vallejo…p.1 Gaitsch, Bruce…p.28 Sons of Champlin…p.14 iii Soulville 63…p.9 Stark and Champlin law firm…p.3 Steely Dan…p.22 Summer, Donna…p.22 Swingin’ Deacons, The…p.6 Tam High Band…p.10 Throckmorton Theater…p.20 Toto…p.22 Troby, Al…p.15 Tubes, The…p.24 “Turn Your Love Around”…p.23 Vietnam War draft…p.13 Village Music…p.7 Voice, The…p.26, 27 Winterland…p.19 iv Oral History of Bill Champlin June 11th, 2015 0:00:00 Debra Schwartz: Today is June 11, 2015 and my name is Debra Schwartz. I am on FaceTime with musician Bill Champlin. Bill, thank you so much for speaking with the Mill Valley Historical Society Oral History Program person, which is me. And I really look forward to hearing about your experiences here in Mill Valley and the stories you have about growing up here. 0:00:29 Bill Champlin: Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. By the way, something I don’t even know whether you know about: I received a Milly award maybe six years ago, five years, five or six years ago. 0:00:40 Debra Schwartz: Oh really? Well, we’ll have to include that in some of your music — 0:00:43 Bill Champlin: At some point in the game, we’ll have to include that in there. I got it right in the other room. I’ll go get it and show it to you. 0:00:48 Debra Schwartz: Okay. Yeah, that’s great. I can get a photo of that. So Bill, let’s begin our interview with a little bit of history about your family. If you could talk a little bit about your parents, where they’re from — if you could give names and dates of birth it is always helpful for anybody you’re talking about. 0:01:05 Bill Champlin: Well, I think my mom was born in 1919. My dad was born probably, I’d say maybe 1910, something like that. My mom was born in Peoria, Illinois. Dad was born in, I think, Pittsburgh, California, believe it or not. 0:01:19 Debra Schwartz: Wow. 0:01:19 Bill Champlin: His family was — they have a piece of land. We actually still own some of the land up in Sonoma, right outside — right on 116 going toward Petaluma from the city of Sonoma. On the left there. It was the first land that was sold to a non- Spanish land owner by General Vallejo. They sold it to my family. So we had this land. I think they’ve, over generations, have sold out more and more and we’re down to about 100 acres over there but — 0:01:52 Debra Schwartz: Wow. When was this first — the land sale originally? This must have been in the 1800s, of course. 0:01:56 Bill Champlin: Oh, 1850 maybe, something like that. 0:01:58 Debra Schwartz: Oh wow. 0:02:00 Bill Champlin: Yeah, it was quite a while ago. 1 0:02:01 Debra Schwartz: Interesting. 0:02:02 Bill Champlin: I wanna say 1846, I could be way wrong. But I think that was when, it might have been when it was first, the deed was first filed with — at the time, I guess they called it the county seat. 0:02:16 Debra Schwartz: So that would have been on your father or mother’s side that would have been the recipient? 0:02:20 Bill Champlin: Dad’s side, yeah. 0:02:21 Debra Schwartz: Your dad’s side. There’s a little bit of cutting out. 0:02:24 Bill Champlin: In this family, we’re kind of more connected with Santa Barbara. And how my dad and mom got together I have no idea. Never got it. I know my grandparents met in — my grandfather and grandmother met in choir. So there’s just been a lot of music in my family. Go back further and further and you find town drunks, village idiots, and musicians. [laughter] Covers it all, doesn’t it? [laughter] 0:02:49 Debra Schwartz: So where were you born and when? 0:02:51 Bill Champlin: My dad went to the people that do all the — the thing where you find out all your ancestors and stuff like that. 0:03:00 Debra Schwartz: Oh yeah. Like 23andMe or something? 0:03:02 Bill Champlin: Yeah, like that thing. But the people that have done it and done it the best have been basically the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City. And he knew that — we had one guy that was — William Bradford, who was the first governor of Massachusetts is a great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather of mine. My name is William Bradford Champlin so we actually came over, my dad’s family came over, on the Mayflower. When my mom’s family came over, I have no idea. 0:03:36 Debra Schwartz: Interesting. 0:03:37 Bill Champlin: Yeah. So we were kind of — at the beginning of it in the US, and then kind of at the beginning of it when they raised the flag in California. So it’s like, “Hey, we were here first.” 0:03:51 Debra Schwartz: Wow, that is quite a long family history. 0:03:55 Bill Champlin: Somebody told me a story that when the Mayflower was coming over, the guy that ended up being Chicago’s guitar player, he had a great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather that came over on the Mayflower also.